All-out anti-Naxal operation offing in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: An all-out anti-Naxal operation involving specialised forces like CoBRA and Andhra Pradesh`s Greyhounds will begin soon in the deep jungles in Chhattisgarh in the wake of killing of 27 people, including Congress leaders.

The decision was taken on Tuesday at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary R K Singh and attended by Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Sunil Kumar, Director General of Police Ramniwas and other senior Central and state officials.

The fresh multi-pronged offensive involving multiple forces will be launched from various points of Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa simultaneously, ahead of which a combing operation will be conducted by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, a senior official said.

The operation will be quite similar to that conducted in AbujMad forests last year in which paramilitary forces had combed the entire jungle and every movement of every team was tracked with satellite.

"The all-out operation will be from multiple directions involving specialised forces of Central and state governments," the official said.

However, the Union Home Secretary ruled out involvement of Army personnel in the operation and said the number of paramilitary forces would be increased.

"We will not involve the Army. There is no need to call the Army. Neither have we asked them. But we will send more (paramilitary) forces," he told reporters here.